Aimless mummy looking for a piano for my 4yr old in singapore

[missylois]

Hi,
I am a mother of a 4 yr old who pestered me to enrol her for piano class.
Seeing that she is very interested in music, I want to buy a piano for her.
But I have no idea how to start...
Please help me...
- where to buy?
- which brand and model?

Cheers!

[iancollett6]

 Hello, We really need more info!  Whats your budget?,How much room do you have?,
 I suppose these are the two most important questions!

[missylois]

hi,

we have room for the piano.
for 4yr old, I was told to buy a second hand piano first, is it true?
if second hand, my budget will be less than s$4k.
 

[iancollett6]

   It makes it a bit tricky because I dont know what $4000 ( is that USD..? ) buys in Singapore.
 Im in Australia, which I believe is an expensive place to buy a piano, but on saying that $4k here would buy a very reasonable second hand piano.
 I certainly wouldnt be looking at a new piano for that amount though. But as i said before, I dont know how comparable the market is in your country compared to mine.

[faulty_damper]

You can get a used piano, but it really needs to be in very good condition.  You can always consider a digital piano. Kawai CA95 is very well rated by many owners and has the feel of a grand piano.

[pianoman53]

You can get a used piano, but it really needs to be in very good condition.  You can always consider a digital piano. Kawai CA95 is very well rated by many owners and has the feel of a grand piano.

I get if you want to troll people who knows things, but don't troll an "Aimless mum" with telling her to buy a digital.

Don't buy a digital. It's not good.


Back to topic: Go to a real piano dealer, and tell him/her your budget. Maybe you have a friend who can play piano, or maybe you can call the music school for advice?

[hfmadopter]

I get if you want to troll people who knows things, but don't troll an "Aimless mum" with telling her to buy a digital.

Don't buy a digital. It's not good.

I agree that for delivery and out of the box playing ( plunk it down in the living room, get it tuned and start playing it), the acoustic is probably a better choice. It will act and sound like an acoustic piano right then and there because it is one ! A good brand used is fine. On the other hand I would never say that a digital is not good, that just isn't true anymore. 10 years ago yes but today the better digital pianos, in my opinion, surpass many old uprights in terms of action. It's nice to feel warm and fuzzy about metal strings and wooden parts but many many people find digital pianos to be very rewarding instruments. Especially so with the mid to upper end of them, myself included and I have an acoustic grand piano as well. There are many good reasons to own a digital piano today if to buy the better models of digital . And when it's worn out throw it out, it's cheaper to buy a new replacement digital than getting your worn out acoustic rebuilt and technology will be even further ahead by then. One consideration,  the worn out acoustic if to not have it rebuilt nobody wants it when you're done with it, it needs to be well maintained then. If now well maintained,  it's rebuild it, junk it anyway or hang on to a white elephant. I will be glad to list several benefits of a digital piano in more detail but a good search here at the site will dig the same info up anyway.  I own both acoustic Grand and digital with grand action. There are pluses and minuses to each.

That said, in US dollars, in my local piano shop I saw a really nice condition Baldwin console selling for $600 ( this would make someone a starter piano extraordinaire, even if the cabinet was outdated furniture). It had great tone and great action. I saw a Yamaha U1 for $4000, looked to be brand new. One of the nicest uprights I ever played was a Wurlitzer. I didn't even care for Wurlitzer pianos but I liked this one. Also a console I might add, it had nice action and wonderful tone. The owner had it tuned twice annually. But I've played on disgusting upright pianos as well, lousy action, way too slow for even intermediate classical playing or fast repetitive pop music passages.

[malembe]

Hi,
I am a mother of a 4 yr old who pestered me to enrol her for piano class.
Seeing that she is very interested in music, I want to buy a piano for her.
But I have no idea how to start...
Please help me...
- where to buy?
- which brand and model?

Cheers!

[malembe]

Probably better to buy from a shop as they will arrange delivery, which is likely to be your first problem with an acoustic piano, and they'll have a range of prices.
  If you live where a wall of your house is common with another house, then DIGITAL is your only answer.
  I have the above problem and I can only use my upright when next door folk are at work!

[zerozero]

You really need some proper advice - maybe try an experienced piano tuner, tis very easy to waste 4k. A forum can give you guidelines.
 There are good digital pianos (and they can be played on earphones)- certainly good enough to start on, but avoid almost everything bottom end price wise as these instruments have no soul and will not 'grab' the players inspiration.

There are so many things to consider, the advice of an independent teacher or tuner, who is really on your side, not a salesperson, will help you not waste money and will give your son a standing chance - its great that he is pesters you, I wish my children would do that.

Z